Ten years ago I was fortunate enough to be heavily involved in the implementation of a company wide coaching programme, both as an employee who was simply to receive coaching likewise as a manager and coach who was for you to regular coach my reports and my peers so they can achieve their objectives. I say, fortunate enough, because I found that once i was coached effectively I came to be really motivated and focused, and when I finally became a proficient coach, I again found it motivational in that I thought i was able to support and enable my direct reports to achieve more.
There were though many pitfalls along the to help achieving total acceptance of education as a skill that not only motivated but also enabled employees to become a little more capable and productive. In this particular short article I will outline the necessary steps I feel an organisation must take in order to ensure that they implement a coaching programme effectively. Ten years ago I feel that although we made great progress we also made some mistakes which I would encourage organisations to explore when deciding to go down the ‘coaching’ route.
1. Ensure coaching starts at the top and they are supported by the ‘top’!
Many organisations are recognising that coaching is an art and craft that all managers of individuals and teams must include. However, many organisations only concentrate on ensuring that 1st and perhaps 2nd line managers are trained typically the skill. Suddenly middle or junior managers become skilled in coaching but never experience the flexibility of coaching from their unique senior upkeep. In relation to making certain that everyone who’ll be involved with the coaching programme ‘buys -in’ to your coaching philosophy they need to have to hear that the ‘top’ executives are sold on coaching at terms of promoting the skill but to be viewed to utilise the skill themselves as they are coached in which they coach their own direct credit reports. In other words everybody has to ‘walk the talk’.
In my last organisation before going self-employed obvious not circumstance. A few senior members of the Board and a couple of key HR personnel promoted the skill of coaching well nutrition and personal training service ‘practiced what they preached’. Unfortunately some very senior managers did not and continued to use very directive behaviours towards their staff whilst communicating that coaching was a ‘fad’ that would soon get! This caused confusion at middle management levels the new result that your particular number of managers did not take their coaching training very seriously. Fortunately other managers did and their teams eventually experienced the main.
2. Will everybody understand what coaching is and this can do them?
This was one of the first hurdles that we were treated to to defeated. Simply, people did not understand why the organisation was implementing such a programme because
people did not fully exactly what coaching was exactly. Some believed it was training as well as all it meant was that you told people what try out and showed them the best way to do it. After all that was what their sports coach did! Others thought it was more about counselling and only used coaching when there the deep problem causing under-performance.
All in all not everyone had a positive understanding of the coaching was and the actual way it differed out of the likes of training, mentoring and talk therapy. Also many people given had not been in contact with effective coaching had no experience or regarding why coaching could become benefit for them; either as the coach or as someone being drilled. Before employees can move on and component in a coaching programme they should be 1005 aware of what the skill of coaching entails and that can do for these folks.
3. Those that are in order to act as coaches must be trained thoroughly.
Most companies will take on the services of a training provider or consultant to sustain them to implement the coaching programme. Beware. Make sure you should do your persistence! There are numerous coaching schools, training companies and consultancies who now offer ‘coach training’. Many will be excellent; some not hot. We got some major problems with no group which people used not all their trainers/coaches had the necessary skill and experience however result that everyone involving organisation received the same quality of coaching and study. I was extremely lucky in which had a perfect coach who was also an amazing trainer.